ANALYSIS – With his team crashing out of the FA Cup to a hungrier Sunderland, to cap a week when they were taken apart by AC Milan, there will be those who will wonder whether the great man will be there next season.

Most likely he will remain – only Arsene may want to take into account the contributions two of England’s best coaches have made, Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp and the man who masterminded today’s defeat, Martin O’Neil, namely to keep things tight, don’t leave gaps for the opposition to exploit whether at the front or back.

Those of us who were admirers of Arsenal always feared that the lack of one strong player at the back and at the front would cost them in the long run.

Arsenal were so long the purveyors of the beautiful game, but who ever said beauty can’t be backed up by some steel and old-fashioned grit.